Learning styles LO19228

Mnr AM de Lange (amdelange@gold.up.ac.za)
Mon, 14 Sep 1998 12:01:55 GMT+2

Replying to LO19066 --

Dear Organlearners,

Keith Cowan <kcowan@ORION.GLOBALDEN.com> writes:

> As part of my infrequent tracking of complex adaptive systems theory, I came
> across an interesting piece on Learning Styles. I do not recall any
> conversations on this topic here. I have extracted a piece from the author's
> work to stimulate dialog. I believe that this area is one in which the
> organization often fails by appealing to only one or two types.

Hi Keith,

Thank you very much for this very informative quote.

I agree that it is necessary to have from time to time a dialogue on
Learning Styles (LS) in the context of Learning Organisations. Why?
Because LSs are very real in authentic learning.

I have observed hundreds of students who underperform because they
never have developed a learning style which suits them personally. It
is sad that the majority of them have "deemed" that it is not good
for their learning to develop a learning style.

Wierd? No. We can become so used to the concept of LO a-la Senge that
we do not think lateral enough a-la De Bono. A LO a-la Senge is an
orgnisation of individuals emerging into a LO. But what is a LS? I
do hope you will understand the following analogy.

A LS is a "LO" emerging within the individual. The individual has
various "faculties" in for example creativity, intellect and
character. Think of these "faculties" as "people". They organise to
form the individual's "personality". Think of this "personality" as
"organisation". When this "personality" as a whole begins to learn
rather than some of the faculties on an ad hoc basis, we have a
"learning style". Think of this LS as a LO.

I do not want to give the impression Senge was not perceptive to the
"LO within the individual". His two disciplines Personal Mastery (PM)
and Mental Model (MM) show to the contrary. A question which I am
still unable to answer, is the following:
Is a LS a property of PM or is PM a property of LS or are they the
same thing?

> ==========Begin quote=============
> Learning Styles
>
> The seed-sowing metaphor for learning suggests that the condition of the
> soil - the characteristics of the learner - is critically important.
> Learning is an emerging property of the complex adaptive systems of our
> organizations. People are not machines into which we can load a new
> program and get new behaviors, nor are they soldiers who will blindly
> follow the orders we give them. People learn and adapt in different ways,
> at different speeds, for their own reasons, with unique results. In other
> words, people have a "style" when it comes to learning.

The metaphor is powerful. I have grown seeds of thousands of
different species from several continents. There is definitely such
as a thing as "seedling-growing style". Some seedlings (many species
of succulents) have to grow in an inorganic soil otherwise they will
rot. Other seedlings (many species of herbs) have to grow in organic
soil in order not to become stunted. Some seedlings (especially trees
from Africa) will never grow in any kind of artificial soil because
in the soil of their original habitat they depend on symbiosis with
several kinds of microscopic fauna and flaura. Some seedlings prefer
to grow in full sunshine while others prefer to grow in shade. Some
need water every day or two while others will rot is watered more
than once a month. Some need to grow in deep soil while others
will stop growing in deep soil. Some needs pruning to keep them
growing actively while others will stop growing until the next season
when only slightly hurt.

In my system thinking I consider creativity (which I then have to
qualify as "deep creativity") as more encompassing as Complex
Adaptive Systems CAS. In other words, I do not consider creativity as
a property which only humans have. I consider creativity as one of
the most remarkable properties of this universe. Thus I think in
terms of Creative Systems. A CAS is just a particular kind of CS. We
can also have Lesser Complex Adaptive Systems. A virus, for example
the group of virii which cause common influenzia, is a LCAS.

In my system thinking learning is also an emergent property, not of
CAS, but of creativity or Creative Systems. Creativity itself is not
the ground state or primordial basis, but is itself an emergent
property of something else, namely "entropy production".

I will comment on the four learning styles quoted in Rick and Simon's
replies to your contribution.

> ========================================================
> PS I have no interest in or relationship with the organizations quoted
> above.
>
> I am very aware of the differing styles having worked as a change agent in
> several organizations at executive levels. The chemistry of change is indeed
> heuristic. These tools merely act as probes to help us establish a baseline.
> Cheers...Keith

I agree. If we really want to push this "lateralisation" of learning
styles to its bottom extreme, the we have on the level of chemistry
two basic "learning styles", i.e two basic ways in which chemical
species (atoms, ions and molecules) react. The one is the acid-base
(nucleophile-eletrophile) style in which electrons ar shared pair
wise. The other style is the oxidation-reduction (free radical attack
and termination) in which electrons are transferred individually.

Many higher styles can emerge in terms of these two basic styles. For
example, we can have the so-called hydrogen bonding (as an emergent
of the acid-base style) which plays an extremely important role in
maintaining the structure of DNA. Or we can have "hard-soft"
intercation (as an emergent of both the acid-base and redox styles)
which plays an important role in ensyme chemistry.

The ultimate point which I want to make, is that we have to open
ourselves up to DIVERSITY OF BECOMING (variety of processes)
from the microscopic to macroscopic world, material and abstract.
Once we are sensitive to this diversity of becoming, we will much
easier perceive all sorts of "activity styles", including Learning
Styles.

Best wishes

-- 

At de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre for Education University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa email: amdelange@gold.up.ac.za

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